Medical

Tiny device makes huge difference in determining personal burn rate

By Lauralee Ortiz
(Public Access Journalism)

I am not overweight, but I am toeing the line a bit.

The extra five — OK, 10 — pounds that appeared somewhere between marriage, divorce, remarriage, two kids and a career can’t be good for me. In fact, experts warn that even those few extra pounds could increase my odds of getting any of a host of obesity-related illnesses.

It would have been easy to blame my age, 41, since studies say my metabolism just doesn’t have the same power to burn calories as it did 10, even five years ago.

But, doctors now know, metabolism is different for everybody. Which is how I ended up sitting in a conference room in Livonia, Mich., reading a magazine with my nose clamped shut, breathing through a plastic tube.

The test came courtesy of Dr. Jim Mault, chairman and CEO of HealtheTech Inc., of Golden, Colo. He invented the MedGem, a simple device that he hopes will be used as routinely as blood pressure cuffs and thermometers in doctors’ offices.

Frustrated by an 83-year-old, universal formula for weight gain that only considers height and age, Mault set out on a 20-year, multimillion-dollar quest to develop a more accurate measure.

“Your age, your height and weight are all factors (in weight gain),” Mault says, “but so are your genetics, your body composition, the things you eat, exercise, medications, even the hormones in your body.”

His experience working in a hospital intensive care unit during his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor sparked his idea: Create a portable device to measure consumption of oxygen — the fuel of metabolism, the body’s calorie burn rate.

“It’s the law of thermodynamics,” Mault said. “If you eat less calories than you burn, regardless of what you are eating, you will lose weight.”

Besides learning that many of the patients were starving — “They were burning 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day and only taking in 1,000,” he said — nurses kept asking him to test their metabolic rates so they could better manage their weight

Back then, the only way to test metabolic rate was with a heavy machine lugged around on wheels. The MedGem works much like its more ungainly predecessor, Mault explained, only it’s a infinitely smaller, less expensive to build and easier to operate.

The device that garnered Food and Drug Administration approval in 2002 weighs 3 ounces and fits into the palm of a hand. Mault recommends it especially to health-care professionals who plan to monitor their patients’ progress through a computer software program, available for use with Windows PCs and Palm Pilots for about $80.

The test is not invasive; it’s simple, quick and only slightly uncomfortable — a fact I can attest to as I sit with lips stretched around a funnel-like, plastic mouthpiece for five minutes.

Sitting across from me at the large conference table at the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center of Livonia, Mich., was administrator Michael Leither, advising me to “breathe naturally.”

The advanced sensor technology was measuring my respiratory airflow and oxygen consumption to determine my resting metabolic rate. Leither told me that stress, recent physical activity and some medications can alter the results. To chill out test subjects, some practitioners even offer incense and Yanni music.

Admittedly, it was a bit awkward at first. A tickle in my throat forced a cough, which triggered an alarm. I had to start over.

The second time, I flipped through a magazine for a distraction.

When it was over, Leither said my RMR was 1,650. Translation: I burn that many calories daily by doing little to nothing, which means I can consume that many calories and maintain my weight — or reduce the number and shed some.

He pointed out that another woman of similar height and weight would likely have a completely different RMR. “There is no ‘typical,”’ he said. “I’ve seen as low as 300 to as high as 2 — and 3,000.”

So much for standardized height and weight charts.

Leither then punched my RMR into a HealtheTech computer program, called BalanceLog, along with other vitals, including height, weight, body mass index and weight goals.

The software tracks calories taken in and calories burned with each meal and exercise recorded, allowing users to keep close tabs on their progress. It also includes a database of 4,000 foods, 300 activities — including sex, vacuuming and shopping — and a graph that monitors recommended daily values for fat, vitamins and minerals.

An alert to repeat your BMI also flashes on the screen when activity levels change, as results vary with diet, medications and movement. Leither suggested rechecks every three or four weeks.

I have to admit, I have become a BalanceLog junkie. Every chance I get, I add my meals and tabulate the results. After four weeks, I am four pounds lighter.

Best of all, it’s a terrific motivator, especially when I think I ate too much, then add my 90-minute yoga class or shopping spree at Target, get permission to consume 453 more calories — and still meet my personal goal.
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Lauralee Ortiz writes about medical and fitness issues for the Detroit Free Press.
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(c) 2003, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.